New Girl at the Lab
by gregs1gurl
Summary: [chapter 2 added] There's a new girl in the lab and she actually likes Greg's randomness. Are the others going to try to stop a possible relationship or are they going to let it happen? [GregOC romance]
1. Flirting

She opened the doors to the crime lab with an understandable degree of nervousness. She had just been settled into her new apartment three days earlier and she was already going into her first day at a new job. She walked down the hallway with fake confidence before she stopped outside the right door. She took a deep breath, adjusted her jacket, and finally knocked. Gil Grissom, graveyard supervisor, soon opened the door. With a smile, he waved her in.

"Ah, you must be the new girl. I'm Gil Grissom."

"Hi. Jessie Madden. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Jessie shook Grissom's outstretched hand and gave a sincere smile.

"The pleasure's all mine, Jessie. Sit, sit."

Jessie pulled a chair up to Grissom's desk, careful not to disturb any of his creepy crawlies.

"So, you like Vegas so far?" Grissom asked politely.

"Well, it's certainly different than Regina, that's for sure. Although, I noticed that the summers seem to be just as hot as those back home," Jessie replied.

"They do get pretty hot out here. But moving on. I'm very excited that you came all the way from Canada to work with us here."

"Oh, please, Mr. Grissom. You make me sound so amazing. I'm not that good," she said modestly.

"What do you mean? You graduated top of your class and you always received the highest evaluation in the simulated field training. In fact, I think your grades could give Greg Sanders a run for his money!"

"Who's Greg Sanders?" Jessie questioned.

"Our DNA lab tech. He's incredibly brilliant and never makes a mistake, which I for one cannot understand."

"May I ask why?"

"Let's just say that Sanders is a very interesting character. Now, I would love to show you around but I have paperwork to finish. I've arranged for Sara Sidle to show you around the lab and she should be here any minute."

Jessie stood up to shake hands with Grissom again. A moment later Sara Sidle entered the office. Her dark brown hair, slightly curled at the moment, reached her shoulders and her wardrobe was fairly basic. She gave a reassuring gap-toothed smile and led Jessie out of the office.

"Hey, I'm Sara Sidle. I'm glad you're here 'cause I was getting pretty tired of being the newbie myself."

"Hi, I'm Jessie Madden. Nice to meet you."

"So, Jessie, where you from?"

"Regina, Saskatchewan." At Sara's puzzled look, she clarified. "Canada."

"Oh! So did you come here for the warmer weather?" Sara asked with a hint of a smile.

"Oh, please!" Jessie laughed. "Our summers are usually worse than yours are. I'm actually here by special request."

"Whose?"

Jessie pointed her thumb over her shoulder in answer.

"Grissom? Wow, you must be pretty good to be called in by Grissom," Sara remarked.

"Well, according to him I am."

"I guess I had better start giving you that tour now. Follow me."

Sara showed Jessie the ballistics lab and introduced her to Bobby, the fingerprints lab and Jacqui, the audio/visual lab and Archie, and the trace lab and Hodges. She was just about to take her to see Greg in the DNA lab when Greg burst out of the aforementioned lab.

"Well, hello, Sara! What a pleasure to see you! And who is this lovely lady with you?" Greg said with his enthusiasm.

Jessie could feel her face grow hot. She wasn't used to compliments from good looking, although slightly odd, guys. She just hoped her face wasn't turning as red as it felt.

"Um, hi. I'm Jessie Madden, the new CSI from Re…Canada."

"Hello, then, Ms. Madden! It will be most enjoyable working with you."

Greg then proceeded to grab her hand, give it a kiss, and take a bow before returning to the lab. Jessie felt her face get even redder as she looked after him in amazement.

"Is he always like that?" Jessie asked when she finally regained the use of her mouth.

"No, today is one of his normal days," Sara smirked.

Jessie looked at Sara in shock.

"That was normal?" she asked in disbelief.

"Sadly, yes. He's usually much stranger than that." Sara shook her head at the thought of Greg's antics before continuing. "Tonight's pretty slow so everyone will probably be in the break room. I'll introduce you."

When they got to the break room a few minutes later, all of the graveyard CSIs were sitting around in various stages of boredom. They all looked up expectantly when the door opened.

"I guess crime decided to take the night off," Sara joked.

"Nah, it's just this damn weather. Hot then cold then, hot again. I never seen anything like it," Warrick Brown replied.

"I've seen worse," Jessie said quietly.

"Hey, Sara, who's the new girl?" Catherine Willows asked.

"Guys, I'd like for you to meet our new team mate, Jessie Madden. She's here on special request from Grissom."

"Wow. You must be good, then," Nick Stokes remarked.

"So I've been told," she replied with a slight smile.

"I'm Nick Stokes, by the way. And this is Catherine Willows and Warrick Brown."

"Nice to meet you all."

"So, Jessie, where are you from?" Catherine questioned.

"Um. Regina, Saskatchewan. It's in Canada," Jessie answered while going to sit down.

"All the way from Canada? Girl, you must be good," Warrick commented.

"Thanks, guys, but I honestly don't think I'm that good," Jessie stated shyly.

"So, have you met anyone else yet?" Nick wondered.

"Yeah, all the lab techs. Bobby, Jacqui, Archie, Hodges, and Greg."

"Oh, so you've met Greg have you? And how was that for you?" Catherine wanted to know.

"Very, um, interesting," she replied.

"Has he flirted with you yet?" Warrick asked.

"Uh, Sara, would you consider that encounter 'flirting'?"

"Oh, yeah. He was laying it on pretty thick," she replied.

"Man that guy is desperate. He flirts with every girl in this building," Nick laughed.

Jessie was slightly upset at that news. Here she was thinking that a guy had finally noticed her when, in fact, he just had girls on the brain. She got up and went over to where Sara was standing.

"Is it all right if I go look around for a little bit?"

"Yeah, go ahead. Just come back in half an hour, kay?"

"Thanks. See you guys later!"

Jessie aimlessly wandered the halls before finally working up the courage to go back to the DNA lab. Since the lab didn't have a door, she knocked on the glass beside the doorway. Greg looked up and waved her in when he saw who it was.

"So, what brings you here to my humble lab?"

"I was just looking around and I figured I'd come by. Is that a problem?"

"Not at all. I'm not too busy at the moment, just a couple samples the dayshift guy left behind."

"Oh. I can come back if now is a bad time."

"No, you can stay as long as you don't mind if I work a bit."

"Alright. I've never actually watched what a DNA lab tech does. It'll be a good experience."

Jessie watched from a distance as Greg worked on the samples to get a DNA profile. After a couple of minutes, Greg spoke up.

"So, you're from Canada right?"

"Uh, yeah. Lived there my whole life."

"Why'd you come to Vegas?"

"Well, I had been working in my province as a CSI when my supervisor got a call asking if I wanted to help out the Las Vegas Crime Lab. How could I say no? Better pay, a chance to stop working in snow, and the chance to work in the number two lab in America. I only moved in three days ago."

"So it was Grissom who had called your supervisor?"

"Yeah, and today when I met him he told me that my grades in college only rivalled yours."

"Really? I knew it! He needs me here!" Greg cried triumphantly.

Jessie smiled a little at Greg's enthusiasm. Greg quieted down and went back to work while Jessie sat watching.

Jessie was normally a very shy person and only opened up to people she had known for a while. She missed her friends at home and she was wondering if she would always be uncomfortable around the people here. She realized that her fellow CSIs were really nice people but she wasn't sure what they thought of her. This thought made her decide what to say next. She had to bring it out into the open or she would regret it as long as she worked here. Jessie pulled the sleeves of her jean jacket up over her hands until she could grasp them with her fingers. She bit her bottom lip and looked down at her hands while taking deep breaths. It always took her a while to bring up enough courage to say or do something nerve wracking and today was no exception.

"So, um, I've already heard a lot about you from the others," she mentioned with fake calmness.

"Oh? And what did they have to say?" he questioned.

"Well, Sara told me you could be totally crazy at times. And one of the first things Warrick asked me about meeting you was, uh, if you had, um, flirted with me yet." She took a deep breath then looked at Greg uncertainly.

"What can I say? I know a beautiful girl if I see one," Greg answered with a smile.

Jessie could tell she was blushing again but she had to finish what she was going to say.

"Then Nick laughed, called you desperate, and informed me that you flirt with all the girls in the lab." This had been said with a bit of a rush because she had to say it before her nerve disappeared.

Greg stopped what he was doing, turned around, and gave her a look. "He called me desperate? Well, I wouldn't flirt with everyone if someone showed some interest. I don't mind being in a relationship, especially with a girl from this lab."

"So let me get this straight. If any female in this building flirted back, you would be interested, even if you hardly knew her?"

"Well, I would get to know her. Isn't that the point?"

"Yeah, I guess it is. But I gotta go; Sara wants me back in the break room. Bye, Greg. And thanks."

"Thanks for what?" he called after her but she was already gone.

Jessie had a smile on her face and a little bounce in her step all the way back to the break room. She knew that now all she had to do was get up the courage to flirt back.


	2. Panty Hose

A/N- Thanx for all the lovely reviews people! I feel so loved now. Anyways, this chapter is dedicated to my friend Alli who actually called me a nark this summer. LOL.

* * *

Jessie had just entered the break room when Catherine came up to her.

"Good, you're just in time. Someone just reported a murder and Grissom wants me to take you with me. You ready?" Catherine stated.

"Yeah, just let me get my stuff."

"Okay, meet me outside," said Catherine as she left.

Jessie ran to her car and grabbed her kit out of the trunk. Then she met Catherine and together they walked to the black Tahoe. Catherine drove them to an exquisite two floor house complete with an in ground pool and hot tub. They went in the front door and climbed the stairs to the top floor. They went into the master bedroom and found David Phillips, the assistant coroner, with the body.

"Hi, David. This is Jessie Madden. Jessie, this is David Phillips, the assistant coroner."

They acknowledged each other before David went back to the body.

"Rigor has just set in. Body temp is 92.1 degrees Fahrenheit and the body hasn't been moved. I'd estimate that she's been dead about four hours," David told the two CSIs.

"Thanks, David. You do the body and I'll do the rest of the room," Catherine said to Jessie.

The victim was lying on her back with her shirt still on properly but her pants were done up clumsily. They looked as though the murderer had put them on after he had killed her. Her black hair was a mess, as if she hadn't brushed it. The apparent murder weapon, a ligature, was still around her neck. Jessie noticed that the belt had been done up wrong; the belt was worn one spot tighter than it was done up. Jessie also noticed that the girl was wearing a wedding ring.

"Where's the husband?" Jessie called to Catherine.

"There's a husband?" Catherine called back.

"Yes. There's a wedding ring."

"Well, there's no evidence that a man lived in this room."

"Hmm. That's interesting."

Jessie turned back to the body and started snapping pictures. Once she had taken enough, she went in for a closer look. She grabbed her fingerprint powder and brush and started dusting for prints.

"What are you doing?" Catherine asked coming up behind her.

"Dusting for prints." Jessie stopped herself from adding 'obviously!' just in time.

"Why are you doing that? The only prints on that belt are going to be the vic's."

"Not necessarily. Look here," she pointed at the worn spot. "See how the belt is done up on the wrong hole? I'm thinking that the killer tried to redress her before he left."

Jessie continued dusting and finally uncovered two obviously different prints. She collected them and then went over to the ligature. It appeared to be a pair of panty hose. Jessie pulled the nylons from under the victim's body, careful not to touch them where the killer likely had. She bagged them before turning towards the bathroom Catherine had just entered.

"Hey, Cath! I think I got the murder weapon here!"

"Well this just seals it. Our murderer wasn't very smart. I just found a used condom in the garbage."

"Looks like our killer just became a rapist."

The pair finished collecting evidence, which included hairs, fibers, and the like, then drove back to the lab.

"I want you to take the DNA down to Greg. Shadow him because otherwise he'll get lazy." Catherine had expected some resistance from that statement, knowing how people usually responded to Greg, but she only got a nod of confirmation.

Jessie walked over to the DNA lab and looked in. Greg was blasting his music insanely loud and was dancing around in his swivel chair while silently singing along. The sight made Jessie snort with laughter. Greg had his back to her so he hadn't seen her enter. She chose this opportunity to sneak up behind him and poke him in the side. He spun around in his chair with his eyes huge in surprise. What he saw was Jessie standing there innocently trying to contain her laughter.

"I've got some work for you rock star."

On the outside, she was smiling happily but on the inside, she was completely freaking out.

'Oh, my God! Did I just do that? Did I just say that! I can't believe I'm not turning red right now. Probably am.'

Her hands were shaking slightly as she handed the bag over to him.

"Catherine and I got a murder turned rape and she wants you to analyze this."

"How many times do I have to tell you guys that this is useless unless I have something to compare it to?" Greg asked exasperatedly.

"Don't look at me! She told me to give this to you and to not leave you alone until you did something," she replied in defence.

"Fine! Well, you're gonna be here for a bit then. I can't do anything until Cath gives me something."

"I think she planned this," Jessie remarked, thinking back to Catherine's barely concealed smile.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"She practically shoved the evidence into my hands and told me that I had to follow you and she was trying to hide this huge grin the entire time," she explained.

"Hmmm. Weird."

Greg opened the bag and pulled out the nylons. He went to work extracting the DNA and preparing it for a profile. Jessie went over to the chair she had occupied earlier and sat down. Greg's voice suddenly broke the silence and startled Jessie out of her thoughts.

"Y'know, it's weird having someone watch me work. I'm so used to being alone with my music that the quietness is starting to freak me out."

"Sorry, I don't usually talk all that much," she answered.

Greg smiled. "That's okay. I'll talk. People usually can't get me to shut up. I need a topic first though. What should I ramble on about?"

"I dunno. Ummm," Jessie muttered to herself. "How about what you were like in high school?"

"All right, well, I wasn't a fan of the whole organized sports thing. I still hate it, except for our annual softball game against days. Anyways, I was captain of the chess team," Jessie laughed silently at this information. "I also surfed and scuba dived. And before you say anything, I realize Vegas is in the middle of the desert but this isn't where I was born. So, back to high school. I took as many chem. classes as I could with biology and physics close behind. I detested gym class and only took it the mandatory year. I also took all the possible math classes. Yes, I realize I was a nerd but I was comfortable in my nerdiness. At one point one of my non-nerdy friends called me a nark."

Jessie laughed aloud at this. Greg looked up from his work with a slightly hurt expression on his face.

"I'm sorry!" Jessie remarked, noticing Greg's face. "It just reminded me of this one time when I was sixteen when one of my friends called _me_ a nark. It was summer vacation and I said something intelligent so she wanted me to go drinking with her. She said I should be unnarkish for one day and I told her that I wouldn't because I was happy in my narkiness. We both found that hilarious but I think the fact that it was like three in the morning was the reason."

Jessie was so busy remembering that incident that she forgot to be shy. It was as if she was back with her friends at home. Before she had time to become embarrassed, Greg spoke up.

"I finished the nylon profiles. I'll compare the epithelials from the ligature to the semen inside the condom and I'll run them both through CODIS."

"Awesome. That's probably all Catherine wanted me to stay for so I guess I better go."

Greg raised a mischievous eyebrow and said, "You know, I've always wondered what it was like to wear these things."

He grabbed the panty hose off the desk and ran to the bathroom across the hall.

"Wait! But…but those are evidence!" Jessie called after his retreating back. When he didn't turn around, she sighed and shook her head in defeat.

When it had been a couple minutes and Greg still hadn't returned, she decided to leave. She stood up, turned around, and saw Greg enter the lab. When she got a good look at him she bust into laughter. She sank back into the chair and rested her head against the desk. She laughed so hard her shoulders shook and tears started running down her face. After a minute or two, she managed to compose herself enough to raise her head off the desk. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and tried to speak.

"Wh-why?" she managed, gesturing at Greg's ensemble.

He shrugged. "I told you, I wanted to know what it was like to wear these things. I dunno how you girls manage it; these things are uncomfortable."

Greg pulled at one of the legs of the panty hose he was wearing under his lab coat.

"Won't you get in trouble?" Jessie asked, almost over her giggles.

"As long as Catherine doesn't catch me wearing the evidence again, I'll be okay."

"Again?" Jessie questioned in shock.

"Long story. Anyways, I'm okay as long as Catherine doesn't see," Greg repeated.

"Well then you might want to run."

"Why?"

"She's coming," she stated, pointing out one of the lab's many doors.

"Crap."

Jessie averted her eyes as Greg struggled to remove the hosiery. He flung them back onto the desk and scampered back to the bathroom in only a t-shirt, his lab coat, and his boxers. Jessie silently thanked God that Greg's lab coat was nearly knee length. That wasn't something she wanted to see her first day. At that precise moment, Catherine entered the lab.

"Where's Greg?" she queried.

"In the bathroom," Jessie answered while trying to suppress a new fit of giggles.

"Why isn't he working on our evidence?" Catherine demanded.

"Don't worry. He's finished with the nylons and everything is running through CODIS as we speak. He just has to do the semen and he's finished," Jessie explained.

"Oh, well, all right, good," Catherine said, calming down. "It looks like you're finished here. I could use some help over in the layout room."

Catherine turned around and led Jessie down the hall. Just as they left, Greg came out of the washroom, ready to apologize for taking so long. He stopped short when he realized no one was in the lab to hear his apology. Greg mumbled something to his self, turned his stereo back on, and went to work on the condom.


End file.
